Apply Within

Bob Davis: We are on. Jesus is on. I am on. You are on. God's timetable, not yours. Jesus is not on his schedule. He says, "I do the will of my Father." Well, aren't you going? Of course I'm going. When? When the Lord says it's time. Boy, wouldn't something like that drive you crazy? What are you doing? Waiting. Waiting for what? Don't know. How can you be so calm? Don't know. Just waiting.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Apply Within, a verse-by-verse study of the Word of God with Pastor Bob Davis of North Country Chapel. We invite you to join with us as we, by the power of God's Holy Spirit, apply His Word within our own hearts as we study line upon line, precept upon precept, verse by verse through the Bible. We see whose responsibility it is to tell people about Jesus Christ as our study of John continues in chapter seven, verse nineteen. Here's Pastor Bob.

Bob Davis: "Then some of them, those of Jerusalem, 'Is not this he whom they seek to kill?' Isn't this the one they want to put to death? But look, he speaks boldly and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ, Messiah? But howbeit, but we know this man whence he is. But when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is. We know where this guy comes from, but when Messiah shows up, we're not going to know where he comes from."

See, the word is out. We read earlier in the chapter that they are looking to kill, to put Jesus to death. Why? He healed a man on the Sabbath day, a man that hadn't walked in thirty-eight years. He healed him, and they're still mad about that. They think he's broken the law, and the one that breaks the law, it's the death penalty for breaking the Sabbath law. So, they want to put him to death.

The word is out. The people know the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees, the chief priests, the doctors of the law, the lawyers, the Sadducees, they want to put Jesus to death. The people know it, that the leaders are out to get Jesus. The people are saying among themselves, "Well, here he is talking right out loud in the temple court area. Here he is, he's talking right out in the open. How come they don't arrest him? Why don't they come get him?"

"Maybe," the people say, "maybe they've changed their minds and they actually believe he is the Messiah." Well, they haven't changed their minds, but the people don't know that. They go, "Why are they just letting him talk? I thought isn't this the guy they wanted to arrest? Yeah. Well, then why don't they shut him down? He's speaking freely, and they seem to be letting him do it. Maybe they are starting to believe he's the Messiah."

But then they're arguing among themselves now. "But wait a minute, how could he be? See, he can't be the Messiah. We know where he comes from." That sounds like the dopiest thing to me, but this is their logic. "Hey, we know where he comes from." The people believed that the Messiah would come, would be completely unknown until his public appearing. In other words, he'll just kind of show up out of nowhere. That's what they believe.

That comes from a misunderstanding of the chapter of Isaiah 53. I can't read it all to you here, but take some time a little later when you go home and read Isaiah 53. Their misunderstanding, so they think he's going to sort of just come out of nowhere like maybe out of the ground or something. So, you can't know where Messiah comes from. Clearly, Jesus can't be the Messiah because we know where he comes from.

Conclusion: He can't be the Messiah. "Maybe they think he is. But wait, how could he be? We know where he comes from. We know he comes from Nazareth. We know, we've seen his family. We know he's got brothers. We know where he comes from. Can't be the Messiah." That logic is really flawed. It's not scriptural, but it's what they think is scriptural. Sometimes you and me do the same thing. You misunderstand what God said and you are misunderstanding what it's all about sometimes.

We talk like experts. We need to become experts. The only way to do that is to be taught by God, to learn and to grow and to, by God's grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, walk in it. We need to walk in it. You need to walk in it. Don't say, "I can't, I'm too old. I can't, I'm too young. I can't, I'm really busy." Say, "I want to, Lord, help me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It's not me, it's Jesus. Yes, you can. Don't make excuses anymore. Do it. We can do this by God's grace.

He can't be the Messiah. Why? Nobody knows where Messiah is going to come from. He's going to show up. Since we know he comes from Nazareth, conclusion: he's not the Messiah. The trouble is, he is the Messiah. They missed it. He's going to tell them that in just a moment here. Look at verse twenty-eight. "Then Jesus cried in the temple as he taught." When it says "cried," he's not tears are flowing. That means he's yelling out, crying out so they can hear him teach.

Then Jesus cried in the temple as he taught, saying, "You both know me and you know where whence I am, you know where I came from. And I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. But I know him, for I am from him and he has sent me." Then they sought to take him, to grab hold of him, to arrest him, but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come.

Jesus says, "You don't even know that the Father has sent me. You don't know that. I'm telling you now. But I, you don't even know him. But I know him. I know the Father in heaven." Do you understand what that language communicates to them? He is claiming to be the Son of God. He is claiming to be the Messiah. He just said, "I was sent from heaven to you. You don't know my Father. You don't know me. But I was sent from heaven to you. My Father sent me, and I know him."

How could you possibly know God? Because he is God the Son. He's claiming to be the Messiah. They know that means he's claiming to be co-equal with God Almighty. That is, to the Jewish mind, blasphemy. That's the death penalty, right? So, here we go again. Listen to the language. "I know the Father in heaven." The idea is basically, "I've spent eternity with him, co-equal with God in all respects."

They know exactly what he's saying. "And he is the one that sent me here to you." The problem isn't that they didn't understand. The problem now is that they did. They understood what Jesus is saying. He is actually claiming to be the Messiah and they believe he should be put to death. The language says they attempt to grab him, to take him into custody, to hold him. They attempted to arrest him, in other words. What does the Bible tell me? No one touched him.

How is that possible? You've got a crowd of people that are going to grab Jesus and they say, "We're going to get him," and nobody touches him. How does that happen? Well, the Bible told us why. They sought to take him, verse thirty, but no man touched him, laid one finger on him because his hour was not yet come. Do you believe that? That they didn't touch Jesus because they couldn't.

And why couldn't they? Because the Father said no, it's not time right now, right? Well, why do you think God has changed when it comes to you? Why do you believe God has changed the way he is and he'll let something happen to you but not his only Son? God has a plan. Jesus knows that he will be crucified. He willingly lets them crucify him, but not today. Why? Because it's not the right time, everybody.

If you will humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, the Bible tells me he will raise you up in due time, when it's time for you to be raised up. Until then, stay low. Stay low, serve God, stay low. Why? Because in due time, he will lift you up where he wants you. Can you wait? Jesus Christ will go to the cross. Don't panic. He will suffer and shed his blood and die for our sins. He will pay the price, but not this week, not here in chapter seven. They could not lay a hand on Jesus.

They could not even touch him, not a finger. The world, the whole world is on God's timetable. Whether they acknowledge God or not, I'm telling you right now, there's coming a time when the church will be taken out of and away from this scene. And when is that? I don't know. It's on God's timetable. It's going to go. Church is going to leave this planet.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, God is going to do in my life what he has planned to do. I'm his. Whether the world likes it or not, God is going to do what he wants done. You say, "Well, should I just not study if he wants me to be smart, do I just get it?" No, work hard, do the best you can. Just don't take it and make it your timetable. Wait on the Lord and be of good courage and he will strengthen thine heart.

Wait, I say, on the Lord. What do you do while you're waiting? Pray, learn, grow, serve, work hard. Do what's in front of you to do. Jesus is God Almighty. It's God's timing. It's not time to arrest him. So, watch what's happening here in verse thirty. "Then they sought to take him, but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come. And many of the people believed on him."

That language doesn't mean they received him as their Lord and Savior. They thought, "Okay, that's weird. We tried to grab him and you couldn't. Something's up with this guy. When Christ comes, will he do more miracles than these which this man has done?" They're trying to use logic. Let's just think of it logically here. Listen, this is spiritual. You're not going to logically convince someone to be a Christian. It can't be done. It's a heart. It requires a surrendered heart, not an understood head.

Now, the Pharisees heard that the people, what they were saying, murmuring such things concerning him. And the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him, literally to arrest him. People are saying it again. "Maybe he is the Messiah. I mean, what more miracles is Messiah going to do than we've heard that we watched him do some? We've heard of the other things he's done. He's cast out demons. He's given sight to the blind. The lame have walked. Maybe he might be Messiah."

And of course, the Pharisees and the chief priests, isn't that what we read here? Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things, talking about Jesus, "Maybe he is, maybe he is." And the Pharisees didn't like it. Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Jesus. They want him now, arrested. The people were going to grab him and they didn't touch him because it wasn't time yet.

Well, now the chief priests and the Pharisees, remember, they're the power of the whole organization. They're going to send some soldiers and they're going to arrest him. Pharisees and the chief priests, listen, they're jealous. They can't have the people thinking Jesus could be the Messiah. Why? How does it hurt them? It hurts them plenty, everybody. They would lose their following.

If you are afraid of losing your following or your friends or this or that, then your heart's all wrong. It's not about me. It's not about you. It's not about the Pharisees. They think it is, and they will not let those people think Jesus might be the Messiah. That's their following. See, they would lose their bragging rights. "Look at all the amount of people I get to teach. Look at the way I'm treated in a crowd." That was the Pharisees and the Sadducees.

They would lose their bragging rights, their elevated positions. Nobody would be lifting them up anymore. See, they would lose all that. They would lose all that honor and all that glory. They can't have Jesus doing that. So, they send soldiers in, temple guard. And the language is "to apprehend." It says "to take him." The Greek word, "to apprehend him." That means to arrest him, to take Jesus into custody.

And Jesus said to them, pay close attention to the language. Jesus is now to the soldiers. "Yet a little while I am with you." In other words, "You're not taking me now. I've got too much to do. I'm still going to be around for a little while, just a little while, just a short while." A little while I am with you. "And then I go to him that sent me." He just said he came from him that sent him. They know he's talking about God.

That's why they wanted to grab him. Remember the people? That's blasphemy. He's claiming to be God in human flesh, the Messiah. He says, "A little while I am with you and then I go unto him that sent me. You shall look for me, seek me, and you shall not find me. And where I am, there you cannot come." Jesus says to people that aren't believers, "You can't come where I am."

But he said to his disciples and all that love him, "You will be with me where I am." Remember that? You'll see it coming up later in John. "I prepare a place, you'll be with me." But here, those who don't believe, "You may be looking for me, but you're never going to find me because you can't come where I am. You can't go to heaven because you've got to be saved by grace through faith." That's amazing, this statement.

Then the Jews said among themselves, "What do you mean 'I'm going to go some place and you can't come'?" They said, "Where's he going to go that we shall not find him? Will he go to the dispersed among the Gentiles and teach the Gentiles? What manner of saying is this that he said, 'You shall seek me and shall not find me and where I am, there you cannot come'?" They're totally confused once again.

He's telling them things that are spiritual, that are important spiritual things. And they just cannot figure this guy out because they won't listen. They don't arrest Jesus. The soldiers came and he says to them, "Yeah, a little while, I'm still going to be around. And then I'll be leaving, go back to the one who sent me down here." What'd he just tell them? "No, thank you. No, thank you, I'm busy."

You try that with some soldiers next time or police officers when they come to take you downtown. "No, really, I don't want to go now. It's not my time." See what happens to you. They'll show you their watch. "Oh, yeah, it's time. Look right here, see." They don't arrest Jesus. Jesus says to them, "I will only be here a short while longer. You're not taking me now. I just have a little time left and I'm going to use that time."

"And then I'm going back to the one who sent me, God Almighty, my Father in heaven." That means that day the whole nation just had a short time left to make its decision before Jesus is crucified and goes back to the Father. The whole nation going to have to decide what they're going to do with him. Every individual here and every individual on this planet has to decide what you're going to do with Jesus.

You'll make a decision what you will do with him, whether you'll receive him and believe or whether you will say, "I'm not really into this, this just isn't my thing." But you're going to make a decision. You've got to decide who Jesus is. The whole nation is going to have a short time to come to that decision. Most of them will reject him. The nation as a whole will reject him.

Now, once again I want to point out here, everything is moving along according to God's timetable, not man's timetable. And the same I think is true today. He said to them, "Yet a little while I'm with you. Then I'm leaving, going back to my Father. You've got some choices to make here." It's true today. Jesus Christ is coming back soon. We don't know the day or the hour, but we look around and he told us what signs to be looking for and we're seeing them.

So, we don't set dates, but we just say his return is near, even at the door. He's coming back soon. And I don't know what "soon" means. Are you ready? You've got to be ready now, today. Some people say, "Well, he might come back tomorrow." Well, the trouble with that is that's tomorrow. We're not there yet. We're here right now. He might come back today.

That's what Jesus told us to focus on, everybody. Be looking for me. Be ready for such a time as you think not, the Son of Man returns. Be ready. Watch and pray. Be awake, be alert, pay attention to what's going on around you. Keep your eyes on the skies, Jesus Christ is coming back. He's coming back soon, according to God's timetable, not mine. According to God's timetable, not yours, not the world's. Jesus will return soon.

And so, I'm supposed to let you know the same thing Jesus just let us all know. Time is short. Isn't that what he just told them? "I'm only here for a short time. I'm going back to my Father. You've got a decision to make." Time is short. What are you going to do? And our message is what? Jesus Christ is coming soon, could be today. What have you done with Jesus?

What have you done? If you say "nothing," well then what are you going to do? Because he may come back today. Everybody's got something to do, a choice to make. What are you going to choose? Jesus says, "You will look for me, you will not find me. And the place where I'm going, you cannot go there." He's clearly saying, "I'm going to my Father's house in heaven. You can't go there." And neither can I, right? He has to come and get us to take us there to the Father's house.

They're sobering words here in chapter seven, but for our day as well. I don't know where you are with Jesus. You read your Bible and you say, "Yeah, I've heard that before. That's cool. That's cool." Can you see how heavy this is? Can you see what he's saying to the people that he loves right there? Most of them don't believe in him. They want him dead because he blasphemed. They want him dead because he claimed to be God. Death penalty, right?

The words that Jesus spoke remind me, remind us that there's a real possibility of missing a big opportunity, isn't there? Jesus is saying "believe" and you're going, "I just think it's all weird. It's just too much. I don't even want to think about it. No, thanks." What if he were to come today? "A short time," he says. "I'm coming back." What have you done with him?

The possibility of missing the opportunity. People have the opportunity to be saved right now. You know how many people will miss that? You've talked with people, I've talked with people, haven't you talked with people say, "Would you like Jesus?" "I'm not really into that stuff." Man, you had that opportunity. Is that the last opportunity they're ever going to have? Well, you don't know, do you?

You just don't know. That's Jesus's point to the crowd. A little while and I'm with you, then I'm gone. Most of them will reject him though. If they reject it, you have the opportunity to be saved. You reject it, you may never have another opportunity. People say, "You're using that as a scare tactic." No, it's not a scare tactic, it's the exact thing Jesus told them just now. "You've got this one shot at this. You may never see me again," he's saying.

"You make a determination. Don't base it on what the crowd feels. Don't base it on what your friends think. Base it on what your heart is speaking to you because the Holy Spirit is tugging at hearts. And if you're swayed by the crowd, you're in trouble. They may never have another opportunity. So, what do you choose? What will you do with this opportunity?" Jesus is saying. Everybody can hear my voice, whether you're in here or wherever you are, what do you choose? What about you?

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Apply Within with Pastor Bob Davis. Apply Within is the radio outreach ministry of North Country Chapel. Our Sunday morning Bible studies are at nine and eleven AM. We also have a Friday evening Bible study at seven PM and a Monday evening Bible study at seven PM. You can download today's message in its entirety at northcountrychapel.com/studies. That's northcountrychapel.com/studies.

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If you have been blessed by the teaching or have prayer requests that you would like to share with us, write, email, or call us as well. Please join with us every Monday through Friday as we study together verse by verse on Apply Within, sponsored by North Country Chapel. God bless you.